Two of our leadership team members have an unresolved dispute over operational priorities, and instead of working it out, they are quietly poisoning their departments against each other. How do we force peer conflict into the open and resolve it?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When executive peers fight underground, the rest of the company suffers collateral damage. Cracks at the leadership table become grand canyons throughout the organization. If two leaders are politicking through their departments, you must step in immediately not to mediate their personal feelings, but to force the conflict onto the table.

Call both executives into a room with the Integrator. Lay out the factual pattern without sugarcoating: specific instances where their departmental teams collided or resisted collaboration because of mixed messaging from the top. Remind them of the enterprise rule: leadership team members represent the entire company first and their departmental seats second.

Put the underlying disagreement straight into the Issues List for your next Level 10 Meeting or a dedicated session, and use IDS (Identify, Discuss, Solve). Do not allow them to hide behind polite generalities. Force them to state the core operational friction:
- Exactly which seat owns the disputed decision on the Accountability Chart.
- What specific outcome best serves the company V/TO rather than their individual fiefdoms.
- What operational standard both leaders will visibly commit to supporting in front of their direct reports.

Once the decision is made, demand absolute alignment. Healthy teams can argue passionately, but when they leave the room, they present a single united front. Make it explicitly clear that any further subterranean lobbying, passive resistance, or backchannel disparagement of another department is a core value violation that will result in removal from the seat.